


A Truly Beautiful Smile

by Rellanka



Series: A Year Of Cloudy Skies [20]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: 5+1, Cloud's Smile, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, onesided feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23903338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Rellanka
Summary: Five people that fell in love with Cloud's smile, and one person that Cloud smiles for.
Relationships: Cloud/Others - Relationship, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: A Year Of Cloudy Skies [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1697269
Comments: 25
Kudos: 570





	A Truly Beautiful Smile

“Make sure that Zack doesn’t learn about this and start trying to get an excuse out of work every time.” Sephiroth warned as he handed over the signed forms that excused both Zack and his boyfriend from their duties for a few days. If he did find out, Zack _would_ take advantage of it a little, that Sephiroth knew. Mostly because it would get him more time with what he called his ‘totally heartbreakingly adorable, love of my life, chocobo headed boyfriend.’

In exactly those terms, sometimes. 

Sephiroth was perhaps a bit jaded from the many, many occasions where Zack stormed into his office and just **gushed** about his good fortune.

“Of course, sir. I won’t let him know.” Cloud said, accepting the file from Sephiroth’s hand. 

The trooper stared down at the paperwork as if he could see all the plans he’d made coming to fruition in the paper and ink, and then looked up to meet Sephiroth’s gaze.

“Thank you, sir. I know that I’ve said it before, but I appreciate this so much. …It really means a lot.” As Cloud finished, his eyes slid away from Sephiroth’s own back to the file, his face transforming with a soft, slightly shy smile before he looked back up to meet Sephiroth’s eyes. 

Sephiroth’s heart abruptly gave a very hard thump at the sight of that smile, before going back into rhythm in a double-time pace. He frowned and put one hand to his chest, confused by the sudden racing. Confused by how desperately his eyes were currently taking in Cloud’s face, absorbing every detail, down to the minute crinkle of his eyes. Confused even more by how much he suddenly wanted to see that expression on Cloud’s face all the time. 

In Sephiroth’s experience, the smiles that were often regarded as the best by everyone he’d spoken to were the ones that were called ‘blinding’ smiles. But Cloud’s smile wasn’t blinding; not at all, really. It was… warm, and soft, and seemed to draw all of Sephiroth’s attention until the only thing he could focus on was Cloud and how **beautiful** he looked right then. 

Zack really was as fortunate as he claimed after all. Sephiroth had known that vaguely before, but… Now he was sure.

After a moment, Cloud cleared his throat in a slightly nervous manner, and Sephiroth realized with a sinking sort of disappointment that the trooper was no longer smiling. 

“Ah, well, like I said. Thank you so much, sir. I’ll, um, I’ll be going now.” 

And with that, the trooper saluted smartly and was gone before Sephiroth could think up a reasonable protest. 

Rubbing his chest when it ached slightly at the sight of Cloud walking away, Sephiroth idly considered getting himself checked. He’d never reacted quite like that to **anything** before. 

Eventually resolving that it wasn’t worth the risk of running into Hojo, Sephiroth got back to work. 

***

Rufus was a man that rather enjoyed his place in the world and the amount of prestige his place granted him. Sure, some things could be better. For instance, his father could finally retire, the old coot, and allow Rufus to assume his right place as the **President** of the Company. Or maybe even die for the same result. But still. All things considered, Rufus was rather satisfied.

That is, until that One Thing He Couldn’t Have walked into his life one day. 

Well. 

Stumbled right into him, really. 

At first, Rufus was quietly furious. More so for the way that the trooper in front of him didn’t even seem to realize who Rufus was than anything else. The little fool didn’t even bother to look up when he muttered an apology, instead continuing to gaze down at his PHS even as Rufus was standing there, waiting for a string of frantic apologies. But just about when Rufus was absently thinking of how it had been a bit since he last ruined someone’s life and how forcing someone to seek an alternate means of employment was a pretty good way to do so, that was when it happened. 

That was when the trooper **smiled** , gazing down at his phone with soft eyes. 

In the middle of Rufus’s dumbstruck awe, he spared a passing thought to be grateful that no one else was around to witness how ridiculous he probably looked at that moment. It was an effort to get his jaw to resume a more natural, closed mouth position. It was equally as difficult to not sway on his feet and collapse on the spot, something he vehemently refused to do. Empty as the hall appeared, the Turks were everywhere, and he would never hear the end of it if he _swooned_ in the middle of the hall over a smile. 

He was so busy controlling his reaction, in fact, that by the time he was in control enough to start using his facilities to charm the beauty before him, said beauty had continued down the hall and disappeared around the corner. 

No matter. As Rufus had said, the Turks were everywhere. 

And rather handy at getting Rufus the things he desired. 

*

Sephiroth was apparently some sort of friend of the trooper’s, and after seeing the Turks lurking about the cadet, he’d gone straight to the President and requested rather strongly that the trooper be put under his personal protection, placing him firmly out of Rufus’s and the Turks reach. Especially since Rufus’s father had agreed, damn him to all seven Hells. 

And damn Sephiroth while he was at it, the greedy bastard.

***

Tseng was a reasonable man. A dependable one. A man who had worked hard to get his position, a position that should put him above tasks such as stalking innocent troopers just because Rufus had suddenly discovered what honest attraction was, and not the kind brought about by people who seduced him because they wanted his money, or the people that seduced him because he was _giving_ them money. 

But no. Instead of doing something important or productive with his time, something that was actually going to benefit Shinra, Tseng was here. Lingering in the shadows as a Sargent ran a bunch of troopers through their paces, Rufus’s new obsession among them. 

This type of surveillance wasn’t such an unfamiliar position, really. Tseng had lingered in the background of Aerith’s life on many occasions, as he had with many others; though with others often for much shorter periods of time and for much more fatal reasons. But while there was a similar lack of violent intent in this case, this trooper was different from what Tseng experienced with Aerith. There was no benefit of the trooper being someone that Tseng had some degree of familial affection for, brought about from a shared past. With Aerith, Tseng had never minded an excuse to look out for her directly. With this trooper, it was more of a chore.

In fact, Tseng wasn’t even really bothering to give it his full attention, instead inwardly thinking of some paperwork that he would need to get done later, when a figure suddenly appearing in the field caused him to snap to attention. 

The troopers had finished the routine they’d been working on, and had been listening to the Sergeants instructions when Zack Fair darted into the field and straight to Tseng’s target’s side. Tseng could only bemusedly watch as Zack picked the trooper up and twirled him around, laughing brightly even as the trooper protested and the Sergeant and the rest of the cadets watched. But despite the interruption of his training, the Sergeant didn’t try to stop any of it; obviously well used to such a display, enough so that he likely knew how useless it was to try to contain Zack’s… _anything_. 

Tseng had heard that the trooper and Zack were friends when he first started looking into Rufus’s obsession, but with Zack being gone on a mission it had given Tseng no chance to observe them together before now, and he hadn’t known they were **that** friendly. He was just trying to figure out how close they were exactly, when Zack finally let the trooper down, and Tseng’s life **changed.**

Because even as he punched Zack’s arm in playful anger, the trooper smiled. 

It was like watching the sun peek out from behind the clouds. A rather ironic metaphor, but a fitting one for the sight that Tseng was being blessed with. It was warm, and kind, and completely arresting for everyone who saw it. In that moment, it was almost as if Cloud were glowing with a soft, sweet light that made you want to draw closer to him- like a moth to a candle flame. It caused Tseng’s breath to catch in his throat, as a warm, fluttery feeling settled in his stomach and his throat grew parched. He badly wanted to see more of that smile.

After that, it was never such a chore to watch over Cloud. 

***

Reno knew, okay? Oh, how he knew that some trooper had managed to work some kind of mojo to make both Reno’s boss and his boss’s boss go **completely batshit insane**. Becoming obsessed with a guy just because of a smile? Who the hell does that anyway? Even Rude thought it was a little ridiculous, not that he’d said so in those exact words. But the little sidewise glances Reno’d caught him sending the two behind the protection of his sunglasses and the very pointed silence he directed their way was telling. 

Reno was proud of being fluent in Rude speak, okay?

So yeah, the way the two seemed as if they had turned into pining teenagers was absolutely **not** okay, and Reno was resolved that he would not be caught up in that mess. He wasn’t having anything to do with that trooper, no way, no how. He wasn’t going to take the risk. Not when the damn man had managed to somehow break Tseng. **_Tseng_**. (Reno still really wasn’t over that.) Reno had a pretty damn good record for being relatively sane for a Turk while working for this damn company. Trooper Pretty Smile wasn’t going to ruin it for him. 

Of course, it was as Reno was thinking this that he rounded the corner and ran smack dab into the man, scattering the trooper’s paperwork across the floor. He recognized him instantly, having seen more than enough photos of him to know exactly who he was, and he was about to split (screw helping the guy pick all the shit up, Reno had his sanity to save) when his eyes caught sight of the trooper picking up what looked like a post it note with something written on it. 

And smiling. 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck _Reno’s entire fucking life._

Reno’s own smile was probably a little unhinged as he stopped in his tracks as if his feet had suddenly been glued to the floor before bending down to help the trooper get up his stuff. 

Cloud Strife had gotten him. 

There goes his sanity. 

*

“I don’t understand why everyone else is so obsessed with his smile.” Rude said later, when Reno had dragged him out for a drink and sympathy. 

If Rude had said that yesterday, Reno would have agreed. He would have agreed vehemently. Now, however, all his looney brain could think was that he was sorry Rude hadn’t gotten to be blessed by the sight of Cloud’s smile yet. 

But then Rude continued.

“It’s really his eyes that are pretty.” 

“…”

Well. 

Looks like they really were **all** fucked then. 

***

“Man, I really need to thank you for agreeing to cover my mission this Saturday. If you hadn’t done that, no way I would be able to take Cloud to that Chocobo race he’s been so excited about.” 

Kunsel looked back at Zack, completely done with all of Zack’s shit. It was a familiar feeling.

“Zack, I didn’t agree to cover your mission on Saturday. In fact, I told you I wouldn’t. I told you I wouldn’t a _lot_.” He replied again, hoping that if he repeated it often enough the fact would get beaten into Zack’s thick skull. 

Zack, as expected, completely ignored him, instead continuing to eat his meal as if Kunsel hadn’t said a word, and then lighting up as he spotted something over Kunsel’s shoulder. 

“Cloud! Hey Spike, come over here! We need to thank Kunsel!” He called, to Kunsel’s dread. 

Oh no. No. Not again. 

But it definitely was again, because the moment that Cloud reached their table where Kunsel was nervously bracing himself, Zack said, like the shameless asshat he was, “Give the man a smile, Cloudy, he’s earned it.” 

Cloud thumped Zack hard on the shoulder, once, before turning to face Kunsel with another one of those heart-stopping smiles on his face. Worse, Kunsel’s _favorite_ smile. The one that always got Kunsel to do things he would never agree to otherwise. The one that Kunsel both loathed and worshiped with every inch of his withered soul.

“Ignore him, he’s being ridiculous. But I really am thankful for you covering for him this weekend. I could have gone alone, but it wouldn’t have been much fun.” Cloud said wryly.

“Yeah.” Kunsel muttered weakly, holding onto his glass of water tightly to give his trembling hands something to grasp, “It was no problem.” 

***

“Hey, Cloud… your smiles… they’re for me, right? I mean, not **all** of them, probably, but… most?” Zack’s voice was uncharacteristically hesitant as he voiced the question, and it was that that caused Cloud to take it seriously rather than just brush it off as teasing. 

Rolling over in the bed until he was laying mostly on top of Zack, bracing his elbows on the wide expanse of Zack’s chest so he could peer down into his lovers eyes, Cloud answered honestly, “Zack… you taught me how to be happy again when I thought I never would be again, gave me back my dreams when I’d lost them. Of course all my smiles are for you.” 

“Good.” Zack said with a relieved huff of air, and while Zack was always complimenting Cloud’s smile, Cloud was sure that the smile now on Zack’s face would put all of his to shame. 

Cloud smiled back as his heart started beating double-time in synchronicity with the butterflies dancing in his stomach, warmth and affection washing over him for the strength of the feelings that he had for this man. 

How he loved him. 

And his smile.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to make it clear that every time Cloud smiled, it was for/because of Zack somehow. (I'm sure that Cloud does smile because of other reasons at least occasionally, but I wanted that to be true for this fic.)


End file.
